Flying Snakes
by Author-sama and Spark
Summary: Yukimura Izumi undermines the symbolism of Team Hebi's change to Team Taka. Spoilers for Sasuke's story arc.


Author-sama: Hey, this is just a quick random oneshot I thought of after I uploaded chapter two of "Team Izumi: The Chunin Exams." Since Izumi doesn't actually show up in that except in a flashback, I figured I'd give her a little character and do something hopefully funny at the same time.

Spark: Note the word "hopefully."

Author-sama: STFU. Now, do the disclaimer?

Spark: Author-sama does not own Naruto. Neither do I, as dragon Beanie Babies cannot own things.

Author-sama: Correct! Now, without further ado...

**Flying Snakes**

Yukimura Izumi, accomplished Jonin and user of the rare Ice Style, was drinking a warm cup of tea that afternoon. It was summer, making warm tea a strange choice of drink, but she had, after all, been developing a jutsu to make it snow. Therefore, a warm (but non-alcoholic, as it wasn't even slightly dark yet) beverage was in order.

It was on that particular afternoon that Seito, a former teammate of hers and arguably her best friend, delivered the intelligence report to her. The first thing she said when she received the not-as-large-as-she-would-have-liked stack of paper was: "So, team Hebi has been moving north in order to-"

At that point, she was interrupted by Seito, who was pouring himself a cup of tea and sitting down next to her on the porch where she was drinking. "Not Hebi," he corrected. "It's Taka now." _They changed it to hawk instead of snake? _Izumi wondered. _Sort of stupid... Snakes are better. _She thought of her student Nanami, who was, at that very moment, practicing her snake summoning.

"Why the hell would they change their name?" she asked, moving aside one of the bandages over her mouth to make it easier to talk and drink tea.

"Think it's part of the whole joining-Akatsuki thing," Seito replied with a shrug, his verbal tick showing up. "Something about flying in the air majestically instead of crawling on the ground sneakily. ...You know you can take the bandages off in front of me."

Izumi looked over at him, then shrugged back and reached up to unwrap said fabric. The bandages over her lower face fell away, revealing a once-pretty mouth marred with a poorly-healed Glasgow smile: Each side of her mouth had been cut to the edge of her face, turning her mouth into one large slit across her face. She had always been nervous about showing it to people.

"But there are flying snakes, right?" she asked, returning to the original subject. "It is really stupid, once you think about it." A chuckle escaped her, and she sipped her tea.

"Flying snakes?" Seito said. "Like with wings and- Oh, _those. _From that one jungle in that one sort of out-of-the-way country... Throw themselves from tree to tree and sort of wriggle through the air, right?"

Izumi nodded. "So really," she continued, "the symbolism is basically worthless. Snakes can already 'soar majestically,' so why change it?"

"Think it's more about severing ties with Orochimaru," her fellow Jonin mused. "The snake was his symbol... Was a snake himself, people have said. So, doesn't really matter what other animal they use for a team name, so long as it's not a snake."

"But Hebi was formed after Sasuke killed Orochimaru!" Izumi protested. "If he wanted to sever ties, he would have used Taka as a name from the beginning." She nodded, satisfied with her reasoning.

"Look, Uchiha Sasuke is screwed up in the head-"

"Damn straight."

"-and we can't really understand his reasoning," Seito continued. "Watched his brother die, thought he had gotten revenge, then – according to what you heard when you were captured – learned that he had killed an innocent man, and that the village government was in charge of the massacre. Can't be good for the psyche."

"I bet you would love to get a look at his mind," Izumi laughed.

Seito took a drink from his cup of tea. "Would, at that," he agreed. "However, the Sharingan's probably far superior to the Kimugan. Wouldn't take the chance."

"God-mod," Izumi said grumpily, but with a shrug.

"I'll drink to that," Seito agreed. "...Probably doesn't know about flying snakes, anyway."

~X~conclusion~X~

Author-sama: And there you have it.

Spark: So long, and thanks for all the fish!


End file.
